Vegetables and (mostly) Healthy Sides

Primo grilled peppers and onions - for gas or charcoal grill

· One red pepper

· One yellow or orange pepper

· One medium yellow onion

· Garlic salt

· Olive oil

Remove stem and seeds from peppers and cut them into bite size chunks approximately ¾ inch square. Cut onion into large chunks. Toss pepper and onion chunks in a glass or steel bowl with a tablespoon or two of olive oil and a generous shaking of garlic salt.

Heat a cast iron griddle on your grill or a cast iron skillet on the stove. When hot, pour the onions and peppers onto the griddle, spread them out and listen to that great sizzle. Leave them alone for two minutes or so, then turn with a spatula and leave them alone again for a few minutes. After turning a couple of times and six to eight minutes of cooking, they are done when 10-15% of the surface of the peppers has turned black. Do not turn them too often, the contact between the food and the griddle at high heat is what causes the blackening and flavor. 

Note: For fajitas, cut peppers into strips about 3/8 inch wide and 1 ½ to 2 inches long instead of chunks.

For decorative purposes the peppers could be cut cross-wise into circle slices. They take up more space on the grill but taste just as great and can really decorate a plate.

Primo grilled asparagus - for gas or charcoal grill

· A pound or two of asparagus depending on who is coming

· Garlic salt

· Olive oil

Start with good asparagus. The thinner the stalks the better. If the bottoms (cut surfaces) of most of the stalks in a bunch are smaller than a dime, you are good to go. If not, leave them there and eat broccoli. Single guys, instead of using a dime, look around the produce department and find a woman who looks interesting. Ask to borrow her hand for a second. If many of the stalks are bigger around than her ring finger, leave them alone and eat broccoli. Otherwise, take the asparagus home and good luck with the lady fingers.

The lovely and gracious Mrs. Pete (Pete’s Mate) taught me how to prepare asparagus. Snap off the bottom part of each stalk by holding it between your forefinger and thumb and bending the top of the stalk until it breaks, usually one or two inches from the bottom. Throw away the bottoms, the rest of the stalk will be tender and will not have any “stringy” parts.

Place asparagus in a flat glass or steel bowl and drizzle with a tablespoon or two of olive oil. Add a light shaking of garlic salt and toss.

Place the asparagus across the grates of a medium-hot grill.  This will make for some nice grill marks, plus if you place them parallel, they will fall through so that would be dumb. Leave them alone for two or three minutes, then roll them over with a tongs. Roll them again after two or three more minutes, some dark spots should have appeared. After another minute or two (total time 5 to 7 minutes, depending on the heat) they will be done. There should be some dark spots but asparagus should not be charred like the Primo Grilled Peppers and Onions.

Note: This cooks quickly enough that it can be done after meat is removed from the grill if the coals are pretty hot. 

Asparagus is great with steak or grilled pork chops. Prepare the asparagus while steaks or chops are cooking. Take the steaks off and place them under foil. Grill the asparagus for five good minutes while the meat is resting and both will be just right.

"Can't Beat Pete's Vegetables!"

Grilled Cauliflower Steaks (see photo above right)

• one medium head of cauliflower
• juice and zest of one lemon
• olive oil
• honey
• kosher salt
• red pepper flakes
• parsley flakes or chopped fresh parsley

Prep cauliflower by removing green leaves and cutting one-inch wide steaks out of the center.  Most heads will yield 3 or 4 steaks.  Leave the stem part on to hold each steak together.

Whisk together lemon juice, 2T olive oil, lemon zest and 2 tsp honey.  Brush lemon mixture on one side of steaks and sprinkle with kosher salt.  

Place lemon side down on grill over medium-hot coals and brush top side with mixture and sprinkle with salt.  Grill for 4-5 minutes, turn and grill for 4-5 more.

Remove and place on serving plate.  Sprinkle with red pepper flakes and parsley.

Crispy Baked Asparagus Fries:

· 1 pound asparagus, trimmed

· 1/2 cup flour

· 2 eggs, lightly beaten

· 3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs

· 1/4 cup grated parmesan

· Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Place a wire rack over a baking sheet and set aside.

Prepare your dredging station. Place flour in one shallow dish large enough to allow you to fit the asparagus spears in it (not necessarily all at once, but it should be big enough to accommodate their full length). Ditto your beaten eggs. In a third large, shallow dish, mix the panko, parmesan, salt, and pepper together.

Dredge the asparagus in the flour. It’s OK if the asparagus is slightly wet from being rinsed, as that helps the flour stick, but it shouldn’t be drenched and dripping.

Dip the flour-dredged asparagus in the beaten egg.

Coat the asparagus with the panko-parmesan mixture.

Transfer to the wire rack set on the baking sheet.

Once all asparagus is dredged, bake until golden brown, about 7-13 minutes. 

Serve immediately.

Serve with aioli or other dipping sauce. Or not.

Dijon-roasted cauliflower 

· 3 T Dijon mustard

· 2 T extra virgin olive oil

· 1 garlic clove, minced

· salt and pepper

· one 2-lb head of cauliflower, cut into 1 inch florets

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a bowl, whisk mustard, oil and garlic until blended, then season with salt and pepper. Add cauliflower and toss to coat. Spread on foil-lined baking sheet. Roast for 30 minutes, turning once.

Your Old Pal Pete has been roasting cauliflower since before it was cool. You probably think you don’t like cauliflower but that is because you didn’t know it could taste like this. Use this as a side instead of potatoes. Send your thank you to pete@petesmeats.com. You are welcome.

Sesame Green Beans

· 1 lb green beans, trimmed

· 2 t unseasoned rice vinegar

· ½ t toasted sesame oil

· Coarse salt and ground pepper

· 1 t sesame seeds

Set a steamer basket in a pot filled with one inch of simmering water. Add green beans to basket, cover and cook until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes.

In a medium bowl, whisk together vinegar and oil, season with salt and pepper. Add green beans and sesame seeds, toss and serve.

This is a great side for a ‘cue-fest with some attendees that want something healthy on their plate. It is simple and good and if you are spending time on this web site, you probably do not have the kind of sophisticated friends that have ever combined sesame flavor and green beans but they probably are smart enough to appreciate the great combination when you put it in front of them. This can also be allowed to cool and served at room temperature, more as a salad than a side.

Dilled Cucumber Salad

· 2 English cucumbers

· 2 t coarse salt

· 1/3 cup plain low-fat yogurt

· ¼ cup loosely packed fresh dill, finely chopped

· 1 t red wine vinegar

· ¼ t ground pepper

Slice cucumbers in half lengthwise. You can scoop out seeds if you want or don’t bother. Your call.  Slice them crosswise about 1/8 inch thick or thinner if you have too much free time. Place slices in a colander and toss with salt to draw out excess water.

In a medium bowl, combine yogurt, chopped dill, vinegar and pepper.

Remove the cukes from the colander, rinse and pat dry with paper towels. Add them to the bowl with the dressing and toss to combine. This is another healthy salad and a great flavor combination.

Roasted Sweet Potato and Black Bean Salad with Arugula and Red Pepper

• 1 package baby arugula (5 oz)

• 1 or 2 cans (15 oz each) of black beans (see below for comment)

• Other protein – optional (see below for comment)

• 2 cloves garlic

• 1 lime (juice only)

• 2 red bell peppers

• 1 lb sweet potato

• 6 T extra virgin olive oil, plus a little more

• 2 T red wine vinegar

• 1 t Dijon mustard

• 1 t honey

• ½ t cumin

• ¼ t salt X 2

• ¼ t black pepper X 2

Preheat oven to 450.

Wash, peel and medium dice sweet potatoes.  Transfer to baking sheet, drizzle with EVOO, season with salt and pepper, toss to coat.  Place in oven and roast until tender, 15-20 minutes.  Turn once part way through.

Drain and rinse beans, place on paper towels and pat dry.

Peel and mince garlic.  In a small bowl, whisk together EVOO (6 T), garlic, lime juice, vinegar, mustard, honey, cumin, salt and pepper.

Wash and dry arugula.

Wash, seed, and medium dice red peppers.

To serve – arrange arugula individually on plates or on a large platter, top with potatoes, beans and red pepper, drizzle with dressing.

Note: This is great as a salad or main dish.  Your old Pal Pete can make it even better by adding some meat!  Use one can of black beans instead of two, then add grilled chicken or roasted salmon.  A few pieces of crisp bacon, crumbled over the top wouldn’t hurt, either.

Blueberry and Orange Spinach Salad

· ¼ cup coarsely chopped pecans

· 2 T real maple sugar

· ½ t sugar

· 2 T fresh orange juice

· 1 T white wine vinegar

· 1 T olive or vegetable oil

· 2 t sugar

· 4 cups fresh spinach leaves

· 1 cup fresh blueberries

· 2 medium oranges, peeled and cut into sections

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with foil. In a small bowl, mix pecans and syrup until pecans are well coated. Spread pecans on foil. Sprinkle with ½ t sugar. Bake 7-9 minutes, stirring occasionally, until pecans are lightly toasted. Allow to cool completely. Note – these are really good but you can buy commercially prepared maple glazed or sugar glazed pecan chunks that are also quite good and skip this step.

Whisk OJ, vinegar, oil and 2t sugar together until well blended.

In large serving bowl, toss spinach, blueberries and orange sections. Pour dressing over salad and toss. Sprinkle with pecans and serve. Note, pecans can get soggy quickly so do not add them very far ahead of serving.

Cool green dipping sauce

This is great for dipping vegetables, crackers, etc. and was inspired by a recipe in one of our favorite cookbooks – The Southwestern Grill by Michael McLaughlin. When we first got the book I went through and put sticky notes by the recipes that sounded good and used about 60 sticky notes. Everything sounded great. We adapted the recipe slightly but kept his name on it and I’d recommend you find his book for more great stuff. This is in the neighborhood of whackamole sauce, which we love, also, but this is more creamy and versatile. 

· 3 cups chopped cilantro leaves (about two bunches)

· 1 chopped jalapeno

· 1 cup sliced green onions

· 1 tsp salt

· 1 cup sour cream

· 2 avocados, skin and pits removed, cut into chunks

Mix everything except sour cream into a food processor and blend until smooth. 

Transfer to a glass bowl and fold in sour cream. Enjoy!